For options where there is no clear winner on the user side, but a clear
winner on the geek-appeal side, we should always choose geek-appeal (hence,
GTK). A user doesn't care whether we use GTK or even whether its Open
Source - just that they have a word processor that works, is easy to use,
available on their platform, and free.
However, a user *will* care about the choice of scripting language if that
is a feature they are going to use. I don't know why "english"-like
languages (Basic, VB, JavaScript) are more popular among non-programmers,
but they are. Perhaps its because folks are always most comfortable with
the first language they learn. Perhaps its marketing. Perhaps $when
people #(see) &signs-- they don't *immedieatly understand [the]
significance of, their @confidence in what is being said goes !down. I
know my mom has troubles with URLs and email addresses, simply because they
contain http:// and @. They are unfamiliar to her, and therefore require
a few extra brain cells to process.
We can argue about which language *should* be the easiest for
non-programmers to learn, but I think the reality is that more english like
syntax has the clear overall market lead in user scripting.